Developer: Irrational Games, 2K Marin
Platform: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC, Mac
Rating: 18+
Genre: First Person Shooter
Back in 2007, Bioshock arrived and blew us all away with its unique setting, retina-sexing visuals and absorbing plot. 2010 saw the release of Bioshock 2, which was a great game despite being all-too-similar to the first game. So for this new sequel, we have left the underwater society of Rapture and have headed beyond the clouds, and with it lie our hopes of this being as good as the original.
The year is 1912, and you play Booker DeWitt, and you have been tasked with finding a young girl named Elizabeth in the floating city of Columbia. Just like Rapture, Columbia is a visually stunning cityscape to get lost in, and an equally corrupt and diseased society. Racism is rife and is under semi-fascist rule, as well as being in the midst of a rebellion. Toss into this mix that Elizabeth is being protected by a giant mechanical bird, and her power to open crossings into parallel worlds, and what you have here is an enormous and deeply rich plot.
Unlike Rapture, Columbia is a bright and mostly exterior city to play around in, and you get to travel to its different burrows via giant airships or linked magnetic carriers that can induce a real sense of vertigo in the player. It really does feel like a proper living city, and it can be very easy to get lost in it, but in the best possible way. The plot takes some twists and turns that you won't see coming, and has one of those endings that you'll want/need to discuss with friends afterwards.
Gameplay wise, nothing much has changed to radically from the original. The shooting mechanics are still spot-on, and the use of "Vigors" as special powers is fantastically implemented. There are a lot of nooks and crannies, and a HUGE amount of collectibles to be found within Columbia, so even when you finish the game, there's still plenty of reason to give it another go around.
While not a huge leap in originality, Bioshock Infinite is still in with a shot of being the best game of 2013.
Rent Or Buy: Buy
Graphics: 5 / 5
Gameplay: 5 / 5
Replay: 4 / 5
Overal: 4.5 / 5
